SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-218.01 KO-25 KEPLERIAN ELEMENTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 218.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-218.01 KO-25 NASA Keps Track The Wrong Satellite For the past several weeks many amateurs have noted that the NASA keps for KO25 have not produced accurate AOS and LOS times observes AMSAT-NA Orbital Data Manager Ray Hoad (WA5QGD). With the help of W5IU, K5EKH, and KG5OA, numerous KO-25 passes have been observed in conjunction with other objects in the KO-25 launch group. The consensus of this study is that the object NASA tracks as Catalog #22828 may actually be KO25. In order to help remove this confusion, the keplerian elements for Catalog #22828 will be included (for the near future) in the weekly kep- lerian element set published on INTERNET. Please post any comments on the accuracy of the Cat. #22828 keps in tracking of KO25 as messages addressed to WA5QGD on either KO-23 or KO-25 digital satellites. The NASA Orbital Information Group has been advised of the tracking problem with KO25. Note: The most accurate way to determine whether a transmitting satellite fits a set of keplerian elements is to observe the frequency of the satellite's transmission at the Time of Closest Approach (TCA). For low orbit birds, this corresponds to the time of maximum elevation given by most tracking programs. At this time there will be no doppler shift and the transmission frequency should match the published channel frequency (assuming no shift due to other causes). If a set of keps meets these requirements, it is a good match for the satellite. This method will give more consistent results than the AOS/LOS method. [The AMSAT News Serive (ANS) wishes to thank Ray Hoad (WA5QGD) for this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-218.02 SSTV ON OSCAR 13 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 218.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-218.02 SSTV ON OSCAR 13 Slow scanners are invited to join the SSTV sessions on AMSAT-OSCAR-13 (AO-13). The frequency is 145.955 MHz. The Net meets at 45 minutes before Mode S, and on Mode B following Mode S on Saturdays and Sundays. Join these sessions or contact wb6llo@amsat.org for other skeds and he will coordinate your efforts. DATE TIME 13-AUG-1994 15:50UTC and 17:55 UTC 14-AUG-1994 14:43UTC and 16:48 UTC Please disseminate widely: clubs, local nets, etc. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-218.03 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 218.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD AUGUST 6, 1994 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-218.03 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 06-AUG-94 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: M QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Jul 11 - Sep 12 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 90 | Omnis : MA 230 to MA 30 Mode-BS : MA 90 to MA 120 | Mode-S : MA 120 to MA 122 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 122 to MA 145 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-S : MA 145 to MA 150 |<- S beacon only Mode-BS : MA 150 to MA 180 | Blon/Blat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Move to attitude 230/0, Sep 12 ========================================================================== N QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1994 Sep 12 - Dec 19 Mode-B : MA 30 to MA 150 |<- OFF Oct 22 - Nov 07 for eclipses Mode-B : MA 150 to MA 190 | max duration 2h 12m Mode-BS : MA 190 to MA 218 | Mode-S : MA 218 to MA 220 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 220 to MA 230 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-B : MA 230 to MA 30 | Alon/Alat 230/0 Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Dec 19 The battery charge state is of paramount importance during the eclipse seasons. As always the command team may have to have to make temporary changes to the published schedule. In that case we will try to minimize the inconvenience, setting Mode-B OFF from MA 230-256 in the first instance. ========================================================================== [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] DO-17: DOVE is running a new set of software that tests the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and other hardware and software cap- abilities. It plays digitally generated tones through the DAC and exer- cises software that implements two way communications between the on-board processors. [WD0E for the DOVE Team] RS-10: RS-10 has been working very well. Lots of activity with 2 stations worked /MM I6KYL/MM EL27 and N1KTM/MM EL67. Also on the 28-JUL-94, WC9C heard the station KC6VRK who was on AO-13 as RS-10 pass underneath right after AO-13 went through its perigee; his signal was very strong on the 10M downlink. The CW Robot is back up and working just fine. Also, WA6ARA reports that RS-10 has been sending down excellent signals at his QTH with lots of stations using CW. [WC9C & WA6ARA] AO-10: After last week's glowing report about AO-10 sending down excellent signals, ZL2TPO reports that AO-10 has started to "FM" very badly. Up until last week it has been operating quite well and there have been a number of stations operating. Please note that when AO-10 is "FMing," please refrain from using it. [ZL2TPO] KO-25: WH6I reports that KO-25 was in some sort of "loader-mode" earlier in the week. Today, however, the BBS seemed to be working again, but he was unable to send any commands to it. WH6I has not seen anything to indicate what is going on. [WH6I] LO-19: LUSAT-OSCAR-19 (LO-19) is still not running its BBS. [WH6I] IO-27: WH6I still has not heard anything from ITAMSAT. [WH6I] AO-16: Still going strong and very doing well. There is some gateway traffic on AO-16 but not enough to present any problem to other users and the file lifetime on the bird is still quite long. [WH6I] KO-23: KO-23 is going strong and doing well. [WH6I] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) is looking for volunteers to contribute weekly OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a regular basis and would like to contribute to this bulletin, please send your observations to WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO area, WD0HHU @ N0QCU. Also, if you find that the current set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts. /EX